1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to GUI (Graphic User Interface) displays, and more particularly to a GUI display capable of providing convenient operations of browsing pictures displayed on a large screen by zooming them in or out at will.
Also, the present invention relates to a recording medium including a computerized method stored therein for operating such a GUI display.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, various kinds of CPU-carried electronic equipment, particularly, personal computers such as desktops, notebooks that can access Internet services have been increasingly become popular. Each of such personal computers typically employs a graphical user interface (hereinafter referred to as GUI) to make it easy to operate. The GUI may include a plurality of graphical elements such as icons, buttons, labels, windows, and the like, which are displayed on a screen and operated by a pointing device, e.g., a mouse. These graphical elements are hereinafter referred to as GUI components.
The graphical components displayed on the screen may be superimposed upon a picture to be browsed or placed on a side of the picture, and may be dragged to another place or switched between display and non-display according to user""s indication.
At present, the personal computer equipped with a plasma display having a large screen (approximately 50 inches in diagonal line) has been developed for home use.
FIGS. 1A through 1C are diagrams illustrating a conventional GUI display having GUI components 14 and 16 displayed on a large picture 10 of the screen (not shown). Herein, the GUI component 14 and 16 are tool bars each including a plurality of marks corresponding to respective functions of, e.g., enlarging, reducing, moving the picture 10 on the screen.
Specifically, the large picture 10 of FIG. 1A is in a state of no GUI component but information 11 to be browsed, e.g., an online map or newspaper being displayed as picture data. Upon a user inputs indication of, e.g., displaying the GUI component 14 or 16, the state of FIG. 1A may be changed into a state of FIG. 1B or 1C. In FIG. 1B, the GUI component 14 is displayed on the right side of the picture 10. In FIG. 1C, the GUI component 16 is displayed such that it is superimposed upon the picture 10 (the picture data 11). In addition, on the picture 10, reference numeral 12 denotes a pointer used for indicating a position of a pointing device such as the mouse or the like.
If the picture data 11 is, e.g.,man electrical document made up of HyperText Markup Language (HTML) and disclosed in a Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 10-273822, then the picture data 11 can be displayed in three-dimension while being zoomed in/out, and information 11-1 or 11-2 linked therein can be opened one on top of the other as shown in FIGS. 1A through 1C.
However, the conventional GUI display suffers from the following disadvantages.
In the case of using the GUI component 14 to operate the large picture 10, if the GUI component 14 is displayed on the side of the picture 10, the pointer 12 for operating the GUI component 14 needs to be moved thereto as shown in FIG. 1B. Since the GUI component 14 is relatively far from the information 11-1 to be operated on the picture 10, the user has to repeatedly move both of his/her eyes and the pointer 12 therebetween. Further, since the GUI component 14 occupies part of the picture 10, there brings about a problem that an operation region of the picture 10 is reduced as a whole.
On the other hand, in the case of using the GUI component 16 to operate the picture 10, as shown in FIG. 1C, since the GUI component 16 is superimposed on the picture 10, part of the picture 10 is covered by the GUI component 16. As a result, the user cannot see the part covered by the GUI component 16, but the part can be seen only when the GUI component 14 is moved to another place or non-displayed. Also, it can be considered that the GUI component 16 may disappear immediately after operation thereof is completed. However, the GUI component 16 needs to be displayed whenever it is to be used. As a result, it is inconvenient for the user to continually operate the GUI component 16.
It is a general object of the present invention to provide a graphic user interface display and a recording medium including a. computerized method recorded therein for operating the graphic user interface display, in which the above disadvantages can be eliminated.
Another and a more specific object of the present invention is to provide a graphic user interface display with good operation and without interfering with other pictures displayed on one screen.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a recording medium including a computerized method recorded therein for operating such a graphic user interface display.
The above objects and other objects of the present invention are achieved by a graphic user interface display capable of displaying a graphic user interface on a picture. The graphic user interface display comprises a display-indication determining unit determining whether display indication is inputted, a transparency table including preset transparencies of the graphic user interface displayed according to the display indication, and a processing unit adjusting the graphic user interface according to the transparency table so as to display the graphic user interface.
The above objects and other objects of the present invention are achieved by a graphic user interface display capable of displaying a graphic user interface, corresponding to a process of a computer, on a picture of the computer. The graphic user interface display comprises a display-indication determining unit determining whether display indication is inputted, a position detecting unit detecting a position of a pointer on the picture, and a processing unit adjusting a transparency of the graphic user interface based on the position detected by the position detecting unit so as to display the graphic user interface.
The above objects and other objects of the present invention are achieved by a graphic user interface display capable of displaying a graphic user interface, corresponding to a process of a computer, on a picture of the computer. The graphic user interface display comprises a position varying unit varying a position where the graphic user interface is displayed on the picture according to a position of a pointer on the picture, when the position of the pointer is varied due to the process of the computer.
The above objects and other objects of the present invention are achieved by a recording medium including a computerized method recorded therein for realizing a graphic user interface display:capable of displaying a graphic user interface on a picture of a computer, the computerized method comprising the steps of determining whether indication of displaying the graphic user interface is inputted, providing a transparency table including predetermined transparencies of the graphic user interface to be displayed according to the indication and reading the transparencies out of the transparency table, and adjusting and displaying the graphic user interface according to the predetermined transparencies.
The above objects and other objects of the present invention are achieved by a recording medium having a computerized method recorded therein for realizing a graphic user interface display capable of displaying a graphic user interface on a picture of a computer, the computerized method comprising the steps of determining whether indication of displaying the graphic user interface is inputted, detecting a position of a pointer on the picture, and adjusting a transparency of the graphic user interface based on the position detected at the detecting step and displaying the graphic user interface.
The above objects and other objects of the present invention are achieved by a recording medium having a computerized method recorded therein for realizing a graphic user interface display capable of displaying a graphic user interface on a picture during a process of a computer, the computerized method comprising the step of varying a position where the graphic user interface is displayed on the picture according to a position where a pointer is displayed, when the position of the pointer is varied due to the process.
The above objects and other objects of the present invention are achieved by a method of presenting an electrical document on a screen of a display. The method comprising the step of displaying the electrical document to a user such that the electrical document can be moved and zoomed in/out on the screen, displaying a GUI mark for moving and zooming in/out the electrical document and an indication mark for indicating the GUI mark, and causing the GUI mark to be varied in response to at least one of three variables: a position where the GUI mark is displayed, a distance between the GUI mark and the indication mark, and an elapsed time after the electrical document is moved or zoomed in/out by the GUI mark.
Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.